The invention relates to intermediates useful in the synthesis of pharmaceutically active macrolide compounds and methods of synthesizing macrolide compounds. Halichondrin B is a potent anticancer agent originally isolated from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai, and subsequently found in Axinella sp., Phakellia carteri, and Lissodendoryx sp. A total synthesis of halichondrin B was published in 1992 (Aicher, T. D. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 114:3162-3164). Eribulin mesylate (also called Halaven®, E7389, and the mesylate salt of B1939), a nontaxane microtubule dynamics inhibitor, is a structurally simplified, synthetic analogue of halichondrin B. Methods and intermediates for the synthesis of eribulin mesylate and other halichondrin B analogues are described in International Publication Nos. WO 2005/118565, WO 2009/046308, WO 2009/064029, and WO 2009/124237; U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,865; Austad et al., Synlett 24(3):333-337, 2013; Austad et al., Synlett. 24(3):327-332, 2013; and Chase et al., Synlett 24(3):323-326, 2013; each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. New methods for the synthesis of halichondrin B analogs, in particular eribulin, are desirable.